Exactly a month after recording a 2-1 win against Dagenham & Redbridge at the David Weir, Sutton repeated the scoreline in the return at Barking Abbey School to maintain their 100% record in the National League Football Academy South and put behind them the disappointment of penalty exits from the FA Youth Cup and the EFL Youth Alliance Cup in the past week.

Dagenham had the better of the early exchanges, and their central striker proved a real handful for the Sutton defence but was unable to match his approach work with his finishing, twice sending the ball high over the bar from good positions, while Kian Eyers had to get down low to make one save to his left.

After an early long range Liam Moore effort which was saved, most of Sutton’s opportunities came in goalmouth skirmishes which Dagenham managed to keep out, but a minute before half time, slightly against the run of play, U’s went ahead when Dan Urpens cut a cross back from the right, and although George Vorster was unable to get a shot away the ball ran loose to Jayden Oberotimi, who created some space to fire low in to the net from just inside the penalty area.

Dagenham levelled just before the hour mark when a pullback from the right was clipped first time over Eyers, and Sutton’s frustrations were evident in three bookings in the next five minutes, all for dissent.

The game changed with the introduction of U’s substitutes in two tranches midway through the half, and two of them combined to produce the winner ten minutes from time when James Fennelow headed back a cross from Adam Reeves, and Ronnie Ruiz struck a crisp first time half volley low in to the net.

Sutton: K Eyers, D Urpens, L Ashburn, L Moore(sub R Ruiz 64), C Emery, N Nzuzi (sub N Hepburn 73), R Drysdale(sub B Sheargold 73), J Keteku, J Oberotimi (sub J Fennelow 64), G Vorster (sub O Bello 73), A Reeves

We are next in action on Saturday when we make the trip to Cheltenham Town for an EFL Youth Alliance fixture at the Cheltenham Town training ground, kick off 11am.

The F Division team were in National League Under 19 Youth Alliance Cup action today at Hertford and went out of the competition on the back of a 3-1 scoreline. All the goals came in the first half, with Josh Jenkins equalising for U’s before two goals late in the first half proved decisive. Their next action is at the same ground in a fortnight, this time in a league game.